Latest news with #CourtneyHenggeler
Forbes
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Cobra Kai' Star Who Quit Hollywood Says She Lives ‘Like A Hermit' Now
Courtney Henggeler as Amanda LaRusso and Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso in "Cobra Kai." Cobra Kai star Courtney Henggeler — who announced in March that she was quitting acting after 20 years, is giving a peek into her life now. Henggeler made the announcement about leaving Hollywood in a March 30 Substack post, which partially reads, 'After 20-plus years of fighting the good fight in the acting business, I hung up my gloves on Friday. I called my agents and told them I was tapping out. I no longer wanted to be a cog in the wheel of the machine.' Henggeler played Daniel LaRusso's (Ralph Macchio) wife and auto-dealership co-manager Amanda LaRusso in Cobra Kai, which completed its sixth and final season on Netflix in February. 'We survived off the crumbs,' Henggeler noted in her Substack post. 'We filled our cup with the possibility; our mugs with delusion. Our plates were empty, but a golden goose hung over our heads. Today might be the day. Today might be the day I reach the golden goose … 20 plus years of this … I'm hungry.' In addition to Cobra Kai, Henggeler's acting resume includes a guest role as Missy Cooper, Sheldon Cooper's (Jim Parsons) twin sister on CBS' The Big Bang Theory in Season 1, Episode 15 in 2008. Henggeler reprised the role in 2018 in Season 11, Episode 24. On Monday, two months to the day after her retirement announcement, Henggeler appeared on The Official Big Bang Theory Podcast to discuss the 2008 episode — titled The Pork Chop Indeterminacy — which she said marked her first major guest appearance in a TV show. After discussing and hearing clips from her 2008 appearance on The Big Bang Theory, podcast host Jessica Radloff eventually asked Henggeler about her life after Cobra Kai. 'I took myself off all the socials. So, I'm like a hermit,' Henggeler told Radloff. 'I bought a house in Connecticut and I live like a hermit in Connecticut. So, you can't know anything. I'm very secretive.' LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 17: (L-R) Courtney Henggeler and Ralph Macchio attend the special ... More screening of Netflix's "Cobra Kai" Season 6, Part 1 at Autry Museum at Griffith Park on July 17, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by) Courtney Henggeler Credits 'Cobra Kai' For Providing The Means To Quit Acting Courtney Henggeler played Amanda LaRusso from the very beginning of Cobra Kai, which ran for two seasons from 2018-2019 on the now-defunct YouTube Red streaming service before it was purchased by Netflix in 2021. The series ran for four more seasons, through 2025. Now, Henggeler is happy to be living in Connecticut and she credits her work on Cobra Kai with giving her the ability to do so. 'It's very beautiful. It's breathtaking [living in] the house that Cobra Kai built,' Henggeler told Jessica Radloff on The Official Big Bang Theory Podcast. 'Thank God for that show because I would not be living my Connecticut dream if not.' And best of all, Henggeler doesn't miss being plugged into what's going on all the time online. 'I don't mess with social media anymore. I think I'm a happier person because of it. But I also don't know what's going on in the world. I feel very deaf to things right now,' Henggeler told Radloff. 'So you can't follow me. But if you can find where I live in Connecticut, can, like, look in my windows, I guess.' Fans who miss seeing Henggeler on Cobra Kai can stream all six seasons of the series on Netflix.
The Independent
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Cobra Kai's Courtney Henggeler steps away from acting: ‘I want to be the machine'
Courtney Henggeler has revealed in a candid post on Substack that she has officially called it quits on her acting career. 'After 20-plus years of fighting the good fight in the acting business, I hung up my gloves on Friday,' wrote the Cobra Kai star. She added: 'I called my agents and told them I was tapping out. I no longer wanted to be a cog in the wheel of the machine. I want to be the machine.' While Henggeler didn't specify what comes next, she made it clear that she is ready to forge a new path on her own terms. Reflecting on her time in the industry, she implied that the reality of her career was more about grinding than acting. 'All I've ever known in my professional life was acting,' she continued. 'But not even the art or craft of acting. All I've truly ever known was the hustle. The grind. Occasionally sprinkled with the odd acting job—perhaps a line or two to TV's Dr. House. 'Sorry.' (That was my line. Genius.)' Before gaining prominence as Amanda LaRusso in all six seasons of Netflix's Cobra Kai, Henggeler appeared in a variety of small roles across TV and film, including The Big Bang Theory, Mom, Criminal Minds, Bones, NCIS, Jane the Virgin, and movies like Friends with Benefits, Feed, and Nobody's Fool. Despite her growing list of credits, she said, the industry rarely offered consistent security. 'After each job, it was back to the grind,' she said. 'We survived off the crumbs. We filled our cups with possibility, our mugs with delusion. Our plates were empty, but a golden goose hung over our heads. Today might be the day I reach the golden goose.' Said 'golden goose' eventually arrived in the form of Cobra Kai —a breakout role, a steady paycheck, her face on billboards and even being directed by George Clooney. Even then, however, Henggeler found herself unfulfilled. 'I was on a successful series. I made money. This, by all definitions, is the golden goose,' she wrote. 'But I was still famished.' With the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai premiering on Netflix in February, Henggeler's decision comes at a natural ending point. She closed her post with a series of questions that suggest she's found peace in moving on: 'What if we choose to believe we have the power? What if we had it all along? What if we never needed to run the gauntlet? What if we are the gauntlet?'
Forbes
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Cobra Kai' Star Quits Acting After 20 Years Of Acting
Courtney Henggeler and Ralph Macchio in "Cobra Kai." One of the stars of Netflix's hit series Cobra Kai has 'hung up the gloves' after 20 years of acting. Cobra Kai, which ran for two seasons on the now-defunct YouTube Red channel in 2018 and 2019 before being acquired by Netflix, became a worldwide cultural sensation when Netflix released Season 3 in 2021. Cobra Kai wrapped up after the release of the third increment of Season 6 in February. Set more than three decades after Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) defeated Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) at the All-Valley Karate Tournament, Cobra Kai picks up the stories of Daniel, Johnny and Cobra Kai sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove). The series also chronicled the story of the important people in Daniel's and Johnny's lives, including Daniel's wife and auto-dealership co-manager Amanda LaRusso (Courtney Henggeler). Now, about two months after the final episodes of Cobra Kai were released on Netflix, Henggeler has announced that she's calling it a day with showbiz. 'After 20 plus years of fighting the good fight in the acting business, I hung up my gloves on Friday,' Henggeler wrote in a recent Substack post, which she linked to via her Instagram page. 'I called my agents and told them I was tapping out. I no longer wanted to be a cog in the wheel of the machine.' While Courtney Henggeler was a regular on all six seasons of Cobra Kai, she said all the years in the acting business have taken a toll on her. 'All I've ever known in my professional life was acting. But not even the art or craft of acting. All I've truly ever knew was the hustle,' Henggeler wrote. 'The hustle, the grind, sprinkled (occasionally) with the odd acting job. Perhaps a line or two to TV's Dr. House - 'Sorry' (that's it. That was my line. Genius)." Henggeler's screen debut came in 2003 when she starred in the indie horror thriller Bog Creatures, which was followed by the House appearance she mentioned above. Over the years, Henggeler has also appeared in guest roles in such series as NCIS, Happy Endings, Melissa & Joey, Royal Pains, Mom, Bones, Jane the Virgin and The Big Bang Theory. 'We survived off the crumbs,' Henggeler wrote in her Substack post. 'We filled our cup with the possibility; our mugs with delusion. Our plates were empty, but a golden goose hung over our heads. Today might be the day. Today might be the day I reach the golden goose … 20 plus years of this … I'm hungry.' In 2023, Henggeler played a supporting role in the George Clooney-directed docudrama The Boys in the Boat. 'I'm considered one of the lucky ones,' Henggeler noted. 'I was on a series. A successful series. I made money. My face was on the billboards I longed for 20 plus years. I was directed by George Clooney for godsakes. This by all definitions is the golden goose.' Despite it all, Henggeler wrote that she's 'famished.' Henggeler noted that for years she 'silenced' the voice in her head that begged her 'to walk away.' And by the sound of her Substack post, Henggeler has finally done it.
